Saturday, September 4, 2010

I am kicking off the remainder of 2010 under a new name: 2010.20 or, Ten-oh-two. I am claiming Labor Day as my 2nd New Year celebration this year. To me, the beginning of the school year is more significant than the beginning of a calendar year anyway. More importantly, the old 2010 was not such a good year for me. It started with a troubling mammogram, followed by the loss of my dear old best dog Ringo. These events happened in the first days of January. They were followed by cancer diagnosis, surgery and radiation, which kept me occupied through June. Then in July my dad had a heart attack and we very nearly lost him. Along the way there was a badly sprained ankle, some particularly trying work challenges and a few other unwelcome distractions. Frankly the old 2010 was not much fun and I was getting tired feeling like Joe Btfspik, the Lil’ Abner character who used to go around with a rain cloud hovering above his head. (Here is his bio in case you don’t remember him): http://www.lil-abner.com/familyalbum2.html

So I decided to retool and reboot the year, or what is left of it, and cast poor old 2010 in a more favorable light. I am shortening it to the affectionate nickname of Ten-oh-two. Tenny actually started up for me in mid-August. Once summer graduation was over I vowed to lower my stress level and learn to work smarter and relax harder. I even made resolutions:
• Take some time every day to read for pleasure
• Check email just three times a day instead of letting messages rule my day. My new goal is to check and respond first thing in the morning, again around lunch, and last at day’s end. Letting popup messages interrupt my other work is a bad habit.
• Increase positive online interactions such as messages of support to students, positive comments via social media.
• Step up my exercise routine. My dog Son and I have been hitting the track in late evenings.
• Curtail evening TV in favor of reading, listening to Pandora, communicating in a RELAXING manner online. I find social networking a positive because it allows me to visit with people I seldom see but enjoy “seeing” in cyberspace.
I am going to ask around and see if anybody else has some ten-oh-two resolutions. If so, I will post them here. Happy New Year!